What happens when a group of men are let loose in the wilderness with no oversight and a simple instruction: kill anything that moves? Tiger Force is the answer. An elite recon group of the Vietnam War whose war crimes were covered up by the US government for decades.

In this video, we look at the atrocities committed by the men of Tiger Force as they descended into barbarity in the jungle of Vietnam, and how the US government tried to hide it from the world.

Origins of Tiger Force

Tiger Force was a long-range reconnaissance patrol unit of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. It was formed in November 1965 by Major David Hackworth to, quote, “out-guerrilla the guerrillas.” He put it more frankly to another reporter. “I want 40 swinging dicks,” Hackworth had said, men who were free to use their own judgment, skill, and drive to conduct unrestrained warfare in the toughest areas of Vietnam. It usually numbered about 45 men at any one time, but people would rotate out every few months. For example, 120 different men served in the Tiger Force between July and December 1967.

Usually, Tiger Force would be dropped into an operational area and given effectively free reign to achieve their goal. Military command maintained minimal oversight of their activities - so long as they racked up a body-count, the brass were happy. Many soldiers embraced the freedom and lack of bureaucracy that Tiger Force provided, but the absence of accountability or oversight would lead the men of Tiger Force down a dark path.

Arriving in Song Ve

The events that would enshrine them in the history books began to unfold in summer 1967 when the Tiger Force was sent into the Song Ve Valley.

The Song Ve Valley was an agricultural hotspot that was allegedly a hiding place for the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese Army (NVA). TTiger Force was instructed to clear out remaining residents of the valley to a nearby refugee camp and then sweep the area for VC soldiers and food caches. The valley was declared a ‘free-fire’ area - shoot first, ask questions later. Civilian casualties were still unacceptable in theory, but enforcing that condition was a whole other matter.

#vietnamwar #tigerforce #history

Sources:
Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss, Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War, (2006)

Geoffrey C. War and Ken Burns, The Vietnam War: An Intimate History, (2017)

Nick Turse, ‘The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of’, History News Network

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